A Special Occasion
by Lauralee63
Summary: Steele and his daughter take a trip together down memory lane revisiting the years that have been.


Steele glanced in the mirror and frowned. Where had time gone? He felt as though he wore each and every year on his face and a few were taking up residence in his hair. Looking again he mentally tried to turn the clock back, to envisage what he had once looked like.

He felt Sophie walk in before he heard her speak. He felt both her smile and her eye roll, he was never sure with her which made him feel loved more.

"Dad! I wondered where you were!"

Her feigned annoyance made him smile.

Her voice softened as she said, "Dad you look amazing, you look exactly the same as you have looked my whole life, I think if anything you get better looking."

"Did your mother ask you to come and get me?"

"No, she said you'd already done enough to get everything ready and that I should give you a few moments to yourself. I just.." Sophie paused and looked into his eyes, as blue met blue the unspoken thought danced between them.

"Sweetheart, I'm fine."

"You're just wondering where the time went?"

"It certainly has flown by."

The look on his face told Sophie a trip down memory lane was about to depart, she had two choices, climb aboard or stand on the platform and watch him take the journey alone. The latter wasn't even an option, truth be told she loved the stories as much as he did and even if she didn't his passion and enthusiasm for anything was always very catching.

"My life, our life, has been a progressive of stepping stone moments. I'm glad we have photos but even if we didn't I could easily close my eyes and picture a movie in my mind. A movie made up of all our little stories."

Sophie grinned, happy to play his game, "Such as?"

"Your birth."

"In the desert?"

"Before that, I loved seeing your mother pregnant with you. She looked the most beautiful I'd ever seen her."

Sophie laughed, "Now I know your "photos" are different to the other ones."

"She looked amazing to me."

"Dad, she always looks amazing to you." Sophie smiled, she felt so lucky that her parents loved each other so much. She too thought of Laura as amazing.

"Those first days with you when I tried to stay home and look after you while your mother ran the agency."

"I'm sure you did a wonderful job, I don't remember it so it can't have been too disastrous. You know no long term scars, that type of thing."

"I think we did pretty well on the whole. I just felt a bit overwhelmed at times. Being a parent is one of hardest jobs to do and it was so important to me to get it right. It still is really."

Sophie kissed his cheek, "Dad, Mom isn't the only amazing one, you are too you know. And your solution was perfect, I wish I could remember those days, my first job."

Steele grinned, "It was, wasn't it. It was the perfect solution and worked well for us, thanks to our family and "adopted" family."

"Auntie Mildred did so much didn't she."

"We would not have coped without her. And to be honest I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving you with just anyone."

"Really? That's a surprise!"

"Well I did try to sell you to some gypsies once but the necklace they offered in exchange was clearly a fake."

Sophie laughed, "I do wish you'd kept the one that nasty Norman Keyes gave you. But I understand why you didn't. Now who else looked after me?"

"Auntie Felicia."

"Oh yes, the banana, you know Dad, she still looks nervous whenever she sees me with one. Sometimes I..." Sophie hesitated trying to decide how much she should reveal to her father about his dear friend.

"Eat them just to get a reaction?"

"Yes, but only because she is so funny. Her reactions are priceless." For a moment Sophie's tone was serious, "But I'd never annoy her deliberately. She knows that, doesn't she?"

"She's extremely fond of you, always has been, always will be, nothing can change that."

"Auntie Misty looked after me too, didn't she, before Uncle Carl came to work for you."

"She did, we were always in awe of her ability to look after you and the twins."

"Speaking of the twins, I had lunch with Laura the other day, she will be here today but may be a bit late."

Steele laughed, "I think that girl will be late to her own funeral."

Sophie grinned, "Good point but it's only because she squeezes so much out of every moment, she's very like Auntie Misty, very like Mom too really."

"Of course your Aunt Frances and Uncle Donald looked after you quite a bit too, especially when your brother was born."

"Oh yes, that dark day."

"Sophie Steele, you love your brother and you know it."

"Trouble is so does he, however I do have an image to uphold."

Steele decided not to burst her bubble by revealing that her "image" was that of extremely caring and loving older sister.

"What other snapshots are in this movie?"

"You in the snow for the first time. You were so adorable. Your mother and I felt as though we were experiencing it's magic for the first time when we had the joy of seeing it through your eyes."

"Was that when I developed my passion for skiing?"

Steele laughed, "It may have been the beginning of it but you were far too young to ski that time. Your foray into skiing came on a later trip."

"What about you and mom? Do you have photos of just the two of you."

"Many of them, our first meeting, our first kiss, many more. Even the ones that have others in them have a separate shot to the side that is reserved for just her and me."

Sophie smiled at that. "You're right Dad, I do love our family of four but I like hearing about the times when our family was just us three, is that unkind?"

"No it's natural. And it's balanced, you also love hearing about when our family was just your mother and me."

"I do, I really do, I love what you two share. I want that one day."

"I want that for you too, sweetheart, more than anything."

"What about the times before you met Mom, do you have snapshots from those days?"

"I do now, for years I blocked them out. Thanks to your mother, you and your brother I have been able to include them and even appreciate them."

"We've had many good people in our lives, haven't we."

"We have and we do and are yet to be blessed with more. We may not make the Forbes list but we are comfortable and we are truly rich in what really matters. We have the love of a wonderful family, a family born from birth, adoption and just plain good fortune."

"I like the story of your life Dad."

"The story of our life and the best is yet to come."

Right on cue Laura walked in and smiled at them both. She knew Harry adored their amazing son but Sophie had a special little piece of his heart that belonged to her and her alone.

Sophie kissed her cheek, "I'll take over downstairs, Mom, spend a few minutes with Dad, he's going through old photo albums."

Laura looked around puzzled, then laughed, her husband and daughter had a language all of their own and they made perfect sense, even when they didn't.

"We'll be there in just a moment, most of the family are here now."

After Sophie went downstairs Laura slipped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him tenderly. "Happy 25th Anniversary, darling. How the time has flown but I'm so glad I took the flight with you."

"Here's to another twenty five and forever after that."

"Did you see what our crazy, lovely and amazing family got for us?"

"No, what is it?"

"A hot tub."

"So that's why I was banned from the back yard!"

"You guessed didn't you."

He kissed her, "I did, now let's rush downstairs."

"Whatever for?"

"Because my darling, I love our family and I love them dearly but the sooner we get down there, the sooner they all leave again."

Laura grinned, "Twenty five years, twenty five years have passed and you know what, I still love your style!"


End file.
